Prayers

A few of my prayers have been answered.
Some of these prayers, I really had no idea how God would do it, but He has.
I am very glad He has, and this is a joy beyond any personal achievement I can make in this life.
My life, and the lives of my loved ones, are in His hands,
whilst I may fall short, I can trust in His power and His purpose.
He has a plan, and a purpose for us, and it is good.

Faith vs Fear

I cannot know God's plans for me,

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord. Isaiah 55:8

but I can trust that they are good;

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

I am reading the story (in the book of Numbers in the bible) of how Moses sent twelve Israeli spies to the land of Canaan, the promised land. The spies returned, reporting that the land was "flowing with milk and honey" but the people living there were powerful and the cities fortified. Most of the spies were greatly discouraged, fearful of successfully overcoming this powerful people to claim their lands, and the people began weeping, wailing that they wished they had died in Egypt or even in the wilderness.

The Lord was displeased with their lack of faith and therefore did as they feared.

Fear is a human emotion - but faith should not be defeated by fear.

"What I want from you is your true thanks. I want your promises fulfilled. I want you to trust me in your times of trouble, so I can rescue you, and you can give me glory." Psalms 50: 14-15

"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10

In Daniel chapter 3, King Nebuchadnezzar threatens to throw the jews Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego into a burning furnace for refusing to worship the golden image that the King had set up.

The three replied "If we are thrown into the burning furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from your Majesty's hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your Gods or worship the image of Gold you have set up." Daniel 3: 17-18

The outcome is in God's hands, for He is God, and it is his prerogative.

It is our luxury that he is kind and loves us - for they were thrown into the furnace, and God saved them after all.

Reflections : Peace in hardship

I sometimes equate love with the feeling of being spoilt by someone.

Yet oftentimes in the bible, the same people whom God loves have suffered, been tested, and come out stronger because of it.

Currently I'm thinking about Joseph who was sold into slavery, accused wrongly of raping a women and then thrown into prison, staying in prison even after helping pharaoh's forgetful cup bearer, and bearing all this with great faith still.

One thing that with years I have better come to appreciate is Joseph's very positive attitude when it comes to work.

"So Potiphar gave Joseph the complete administrative responsibility over everything he owned. He hadn't a worry in the world with Joseph there, except to decide what he wanted to eat!..." Genesis 39:9
--> I take this to mean Potiphar did absolutely jack, and Joseph did all his work for him despite being just a slave. And I believe Joseph was very thankful for Potiphar's trust, not bitter about the lazy guy above him. Or being sold into slavery. Or being made a slave despite his competency.

Fruit of the holy spirit: Peace

He trusted in God's amazing plan.

New Blog/Greece

I've decided to revamp the entire blog to better reflect my current interests.

"When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became an adult, I put childish ways behind me." 1 Corinthians 13:11

What's happening on my birthday? Well, May 6 - Probably a general election in Greece, called by Lucas Papademos. Will a new leadership really bring a new idea, a new dynamic to this horrendous problem? I believe in the power of leadership, but here I think at least in the short term, a change in leadership may not bring relief. Really, elections in France, Germany and Greece actually may impede continuity of the negotiations currently taking place, as it has the potential to change the players at the bargaining table and cause delays in the process. Inherent problems remain.

I see the budget cuts as really an attempt at saving their way out of a crisis. With all these budget cuts, less capital investment and unemployment crimp growth, lowering tax dollars and making it even more difficult for Greece to cover its interest payments. Credit deteriorates and interest rates skyrocket, and the vicious cycle continues. To sidestep this, you have to grow your way out of crisis - ie loosen fiscal and monetary policy, just as the US is attempting to do.

Yet I cannot see the Eurozone and IMF giving unconditional aid to Greece. After all, especially for the case of Greece, irresponsible government spending was what precipitated the crisis to start with. Encouraging such behavior encourages moral hazard and also costs votes back in the donor countries.

I think neither cutting spending nor encouraging profligate growth are answers. To be sure, there is no easy answer. Perhaps certain industries, deemed as more likely to have higher growth prospects, should be nurtured at the expense of the incumbent industries which have less stellar future growth forecasts. Structural unemployment will probably remain high for a while as the people retrain, but at least this may be a way to create hope for the future.

Of course, to put things in perspective, Greece is only a small part of the Eurozone GDP - they can bail them out whatever the problem. And they should bail him out without too many near term demands. Do you kick someone when he is down? No. Save him first, talk terms later. Of course you don't give a drunk gambler money unconditionally, since once he loses it again its really your own fault. You fund him as you first send him alcoholics anonymous, help him get a job, get his house back in order and then when he's in better shape, then you ask him to pay back.

Structural unemployment sounds like just a blip on the radar, but in the absence of financial assistance to affected individuals, I can imagine for example, potential university students missing out on the chance to get the skills that will forever impact their future lives. I think there must be due consideration given to such issues.